Introducing the new Uncut… and our free 12-track Bob Dylan CD!

So the cat’s finally out of the bag. Welcome to the new issue of Uncut which, I hope you’ve noticed by now, comes with a very special CD…

November sees the release of the latest, lavish archeological survey of Bob Dylan’s archive – More Blood, More Tracks – The Bootleg Series Vol. 14, devoted solely to his 1975 masterpiece, Blood On The Tracks. To celebrate this momentous event, I’m delighted to unveil this month’s free CD – Dylan: The Best Of The Bootleg Series, a unique 12-track compilation featuring a track from each instalment in the Bootleg Series and an exclusive preview of More Blood, More Tracks. I humbly think it’s one of the best CDs we’ve ever produced and I’m thrilled to finally be able to share it with you. This issue is in shops now – and you can order a copy here to be delivered to you at home.

What else? Well, we dig deep to bring you the definitive review of this latest motherlode from Dylan’s vaults. Dylan, of course, never had a set idea of how a song should work; his music has always been in a state of flux – and the work we encounter in More Blood, More Tracks – The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 captures his restlessly creative mind at full tilt. Just when you think he’s nailed the definitive version of “Idiot Wind”, another killer take comes along that opens up yet a different perspective on the song.

We also talk to the surviving musicians from the original Blood On The Tracks sessions in New York and Minneapolis and hear the secrets of Dylan’s capricious working practices. There are revelations aplenty – Mick Jagger, who knew? – as well as some beautiful, rarely seen images of Dylan from this period. We also take a look inside Dylan’s fabled red notebooks. All I’ll say is you’ll need to pick up the issue to find out more…

Incidentally, on the subject of Dylan’s writing, I can’t recommend highly enough Mondo Scripto – a new exhibition currently running at London’s Halcyon Gallery until November 30. Here, Dylan has assembled handwritten lyrics to 60 of his most famous songs accompanied by new pencil drawings that offer additional explorations of their themes. Meanwhile, fans of the “Subterranean Homesick Blues” clip will be in for a treat; others might wonder what happens if you dial the phone number printed at the bottom of each lyric page…

If that wasn’t enough, elsewhere in the issue, we commemorate the Small Faces’ Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, enjoy a revelatory chat with Jeff Tweedy, join the the Psychedelic Furs as they relive their momentous career highs and travel to three cities in three days with Moses Sumney. There’s Sister Sledge, Jeff Goldblum, Jon Spencer, Roger Daltrey, Brix Smith and much more. Plenty to enjoy, in other words.